Fishing lure retriever

ABSTRACT

A fishing lure retriever for recovering lures which have become entangled in submerged debris. The retriever comprises a latching member adapted to be applied to a fishing line, and to slide along the line to the lure so as to latch onto the latter. The body of the member has a substantially greater density than that of water, thereby enabling it to readily submerge. The body is provided with a longitudinal slot into which the fishing line can be easily and quickly inserted without requiring that it be broken or cut; thereafter the retriever body is allowed to gravitationally slide downward along the line to the location of the lure. The retriever body is also connected with a recovery line which is fastened to one of its ends. A pair of springloaded retractable grippers are disposed at the other end of the body, and have camming surfaces which can engage the usual hollow ball carrying swivel eyes by which the lure is fastened to the line. With the retriever body securely seizing the swivel ball, the lure can now be recovered by merely forcibly pulling on the recovery line.

United States Patent [191 Meyers 111 3,783,546 451 Jan. 8, 1974 FISHINGLURE RETRIEVER Duane A. Meyers, 7125 Main St., Trumbull, Conn. 06611Filed: Mar. 15, 1972 Appl. No.: 234,706

Inventor:

US. Cl. 43/17.2, 43/4495 Int. Cl A01k 97/00 Field of Search 43/172, 5,44.9,

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 787,621 6/1968 Canada 43/172 Primary Examiner-Louis G.Mancene Assistant Examiner.lames H. Czerwonky Attorney-H. Gibner Afishing lure retriever for recovering lures which Lehmann and K. GibnerABSTRACT have become entangled in submerged debris. The retrievercomprises a latching member adapted to be applied to a fishing line, andto slide along the line to the lure soas to latch onto the latter. Thebody of the member has a substantially greater density than that ofwater, thereby enabling it to readily submerge. The body is providedwith a longitudinal slot into which the fishing line can be easily andquickly inserted withtriever body securely seizing the swivel ball, thelure' can now be recovered by merely forcibly pulling on the recoveryline.

10 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures FISHING LURE RETRIEVER BACKGROUND Thisinvention relates to fishing lure retriever devices, and moreparticularly to devices of the type employing a body which is applied toa fishing line and allowed to slide downward along the line, eventuallyarriving at the location of the entangled lure. In the past a number ofdevices of this type have been employed to recover fishing lures whichhad become entangled in submerged debris. Usually these prior devicesrequired the cutting of the fishing line in order to insert the end ofthe line into a hole in the retriever body. Thus the cut line neededsplicing after the lure was recovered, or more frequently the entirelength of the line had to be replaced.

The means by which the previous devices gripped the snagged lure werealso somewhat clumsy and inefficient, and the likelihoodof successfulrecovery often depended to a large extent upon the relative size andshape of the lure, and upon the particular orientation of the lure afterit had become entangled. In addition, protruding debris, such as treelimbs or branches adjacent to the location of the entangled luresometimes seriously interferred with the operation of the retriever. Incases where a number of moving parts were involved, smooth operation ofthe parts was sometimes jeopardized as a result of dirt particlesbecoming lodged in the movable mechanism. Frequently the lure was notrecoverable with use of these previous devices, and occassionally theretriever body itself would become entangled and subsequently lost.

SUMMARY The above drawbacks and disadvantages of the prior lureretriever devices are obviated bythe present invention which has for oneobject the provision of an improved and novel fishing lure retrieverdevice which does not require the cutting of the fishing line for itsemployment, and which can be used to recover virtually any type offishing lure, regardless of its size or shape. A related object of theinvention is the provision of an improved lure retriever which is sturdyin construction, non-susceptible to fouling due to dirt or debrisbecoming lodged within the mechanism, and which 7 is not readily lostdue to entanglement of the retriever body itself. These objects areaccomplished by the provided at the other end of the body, to which ahigh tensile strength retriever line is secured, thereby enabling theretriever to be recovered after seizure of the lure has been effected.

Still other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawings which are illustrative of several embodiments of theinvention:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of one embodiment of the invention,showing the retriever device with its gripper slides latched onto theswivel ball of a fishing lure.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the body of the retriever of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the retriever body of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the retriever body.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line 55 ofFIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary front elevational view illustrating theretracted positions of the gripper slides.

FIG. 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 77 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a retriever second embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 9 is a bottom plan view of the retriever body of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a vertical section taken on the line Il-ll of FIG. 9.

FIGS. 1-7 illustrate one embodiment of the invention. The fishing lureretriever of this embodiment comprises a cylindrical body 10 havingsubstantial weight, that is, having a greater density than water so asto enable it to readily submerge. In accordance with the presentinvention the body 10 is provided with an eccentrically-disposed,cylindrical longitudinal bore 12 running its entire length, and furtherhas a longitudinal, fishing lure clearance slot or passage 14 in itsouter wall, which communicates with the bore 12.

There are disposed at one end of the body 10 two oblique guide slots 16and 18, which have retainer shoulders 20, 22 and 24, 26 respectively.The guide slots 16, 18 are adapted to receive retractable gripper slides28 constituting a and 30, which are provided with camming surfaces 32and 34 respectively, and with undercut surfaces 36 and 38 respectivelyat their adjacent or corresponding exvision of a main member or bodyhaving substantial weight or density so as to enable it to readilysubmerge. The body has, disposed at one end, a pair of oblique guideslots which carry retractable grippers or slides. The slides comprisecamming end surfaces which are adapted to engage the hollow ball bywhich the lure and fishing line are normally joined to permit swivelingor spinning. In addition, the retriever body is provided with alongitudinal clearance slot in one side wall, extending from end to endand adapted to receive the fishing line. In one embodiment, acylindrical, grooved line positioner is located in the slot and adaptedto receive the line in its groove and subsequentlyto be rotated withinthe body in such a manner as to align the fishing line with the axis ofthe body, thereby holding the retriever body captive on the line. In asecond embodiment, the line clearance slot has a graduated depth,thereby enabling the retriever to be hung" onto the line with a lowcenter of gravity, and to be slidably movable with respect thereto. Afastening means is protremities. There are further provided, in thebottom walls of each of the guide slots 16, 18 additional carrier slots35 and 37 which accommodate helical compression coil springs 40 and 42respectively. 7

The gripper slides 28 and 30 are biased to normally advanced positionsas illustrated in FIG. 5 by the springs 40 and 42, which cooperate withlimit or stop pins 44 and 46 force-fitted into holes in the slidesduring assembly of the latter into the retriever body 10. The pins 44and 46 also serve to permanently retain the slides and to limit thesliding motion thereof with respect to the body, to that permitted byengagement with the extremities of the slots 35 and 37. The determiningof the retracted positions of the slides 28 and 30 is effected byengagement of the undercut surfaces 36 and 38 thereof with the bottomend surface 40 of the body 10, as illustrated in FIG. 6.-

In addition to the above structure, there is further provided by theinvention a longitudinally extending cylindrical line centralizer ormember 52 disposed in the eccentric bore 12 and having substantially thesame length as the body 10. The member 52 is of a diameter to snuglyturn in the bore 12, and has a longitudinal groove 54 running for itsentire length. The member 52 also contains a spring-charged detent asillustrated in FIG. 7, comprising a compression spring 55 and a ball 56.A manually operable finger piece .58 is provided, carried by the member52 and extending through a transverse guide slot 60 in the body 10, toenable turning of the member 52 to be effected with respect to the body10. A lateral bore 59 of slightly smaller diameter than that of the ball56 is provided in the body 10, adapted to receive a portion of the ballwhen the member 52 has the position shown in FIG. 7.

The bottom end 40 of the body 10, FIG. 6, and an adjoining portion ofthe member 52 provided have cutaway portions arranged in such a way thatthey form an essentially conical recess 61 when the member 52 is turnedto one extreme position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 7. For this position thegroove 54 in the member 52 is located nearest the axis of the body 10.

The recess 61 is thus adapted to easily accept a ho]- low ball 62 andone of the swivel eyes 64, 66 as shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3 there is provided a fastening means68 comprisinga screw 70 having a central bore. A threaded hole in the body receivesthe screw, and a retriever line 74 passes through the bore in the screwand is secured thereto by a knot (not shown).

From the above description, the operation of the fishing lure retrievercan now be readily understood. In FIG. 1 there is shown a lure 72secured to a line 73 by means of the hollow ball 62 and swivel eyes 64and 66. Assuming the lure has become entangled in submerged debris suchas the branch 75, the retriever can be employed to recover the lure witha minimum of effort and without cutting the line. In accomplishing this,the manually operable fingerpiece 58 is swung to engage one end limit ofthe transverse guide slot 60, to cause the groove 54 in the member 52 tobecome aligned with the line clearance slot 14. The line 73 can now bepassed laterally through the clearance slot 14 and placed into thegroove 54 with the body 10 of the retriever positioned so that thebottom end adjacent the grippers faces in the direction of the snaggedlure. With the line 73 positioned in the groove 54, the fingerpiece 58is swung to its opposite extreme, thereby shifting the groove 54 andcaptive line 73 to a centralized position coincident with the axis ofthe body 10. With the line 73 held taut, the body 10 is now allowed toslide downward along it under the action of gravity, toward the snaggedlure. When the retriever body arrives at the lure, the camming surfaces32 and 34 of the retractable gripper slides 28 and 30 engage the hollowball 62. The substantial weight of the body 10 acting against the ball62 causes the latter to effect a partial retraction of the slides 28 and30, to the extent that the ball 62 can pass through the opening createdby the retraction and be received in the clearance recess 61. After theball 62 has sufficiently cleared the opening between the cammingsurfaces 32 and 34, the slides 28 and 30 return to their normal advancedpositions as indicated in FIG. 1. The lure and retriever body can now berecovered by gently pulling on the line 74 which is of substantiallygreater tensile strength than the fishing line 73. The hollow ball 62and attached lure 72 are thus positively seized by the undercut surfaces36 and 38 of the slides 28 and 30, and the lure can in most cases besafely recovered without likelihood of loss, or breakage of the fishingline 73.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 8-10. Thismodified form of retriever includes a cylindrical body 10a having asubstantially greater density than that of water, thereby enabling it tobe readily submerged. At one end of the body 10a there are disposed twooblique guide slots 16a and 18a which hold a pair of retractable gripperslides 28 and 30, and are identical in construction and operation tothose of the previous embodiment particularly illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5and 6. The guide slots 16a and 18a have shoulder portions 20a, 22a and24a, 26a respectively, which form captive channels in which the slidesmay shift longitudinally. A pair of carrier slots (not shown) househelical compression springs (not shown) identical to those illustratedin FIG. 5 and designated 35, 37 and 40, 42 respectively. The springsprovide bias for the gripper slides 28 and 30, thereby maintaining saidslides in their normally advanced positions as illustrated in FIG. 5.During .'the assembly of the retriever, the limit pins 44 and 46 areforce-fitted into holes in the slides 28 and 30, thereby limiting therelative sliding motion between each slide and the body 10a.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided in one wallof the body 10: a longitudinal slot or passage 69 having a graduateddepth. At the end of the body 10a adjacent the gripper slides there isfurther provided a clearance recess 59 of substantially conical shape,adapted to receive the hollow ball 62 and one of the swivel eyes 64 and66 by which the lure is fastened to the fishing line. The depth of theslot 69 at the end adjacent the slides is roughly equivalent to a radiusof the body. The depth of the slot at the opposite end is slightly lessthan the diameter of the body 100. The width of the slot is sufi'lcientto accept the fishing line 73. At this opposite end of the body 100there is also included a fastening means 68, comprising a hollow screw70 which fits into a threaded hole in the body. The retriever line 74 issecured by the screw 70, as will be understood.

The operation of this embodiment of the invention can now be readilyunderstood. Assuming that a lure has become entangled while submerged,the taut fishing line 73 is inserted into the longitudinal slot 69 inthe side wall of the body 100, the body being oriented so that theretractable gripper slides 28 and 30 face in the direction of thesnagged lure. Due to the non-uniform depth of the slot 68 in the wall ofthe body, the center of gravity of the body will fall below the axis ofthe line when the retriever is hung on the line as above described. Thistends to keep the body of the retriever from revolving about the axis ofthe line, and thereby falling off. In FIG. 10, the center of gravity ofthe retriever body lies to the right of the border between the sectionedand non-sectioned areas. Assuming that, from the position of FIG. 10,the body is rotated somewhat less than one quarter of a turn clockwise,about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the paper, and then issuspended from a taut fishing line inserted in the slot 69, it can be'seen that this center of gravity will fall below the line. This enablesthe body to hang upon the fish line as it slides down the latter to thelocation of the snagged lure. The retriever body can now be loweredslowly so as to slide down the line to the location of the lure. In amanner identical to that of the first embodiment of the inventiondescribed above, the camming surfaces 32 and 34 of the retractablegripper slides 28 and 30 will respectively engage the hollow ball 62.The weight of the body a acting against the force of the ball 62 (whichis fastened to the taut fishing line 73) causes the slides 28 and 30 toretract, thereby enabling the ball 62 to pass through the openingcreated by such retraction and become seated in the clearance recess 59shown in FIG..10. After the ball 62 has substantially cleared theopening, the slides return to their normally advanced positions underthe action of springs (not shown) like those designated 36 and 38 inFIG. 5. The lure can now be recovered by gently pulling on the highstrength retriever line 74. During such recovery, the ball 62 ispositively seized by the undercut surfaces 36 and 38 of the slides 28and 30 respectively.

It will now be understood from the foregoing that I have provided anovel and improved fishing lure retriever which is simple inconstruction, reliable in operation, and has a minimum number of movingparts. The gripper slides can be of substantially rectangular crosssection, thereby enabling them to be cut from strip stock or from asingle, large sheet. The body of the retriever can be fabricated as asingle piece, thereby keeping assembling time of the device to aminimum. The helical compression springs are contained in recessed slotswhich are not externally exposed after assembly has been completed, andtherefore are not subject to fouling due to dirt particles or debriswhich might otherwise interfere with their operation.

Variations and modifications are possible without departing from thespirit of the invention.

I claim: I

l. A fishing lure retriever, comprising in combination:

a. an elongate body of substantial weight,

b. said elongate body having a plurality of elongate oblique guide slotsat one end,

0. retractable gripper slides mounted in the oblique guide slots andadapted to slide longitudinally therein, said slides having gripper endsconstituted of sloping end surfaces and having biasing means urging themto advanced positions,

d. a longitudinal line clearance passage extending between the ends ofthe body and adapted to receive the fishing line, one end of saidclearance passage being disposed adjacent the gripper ends of saidslides to dispose the fishing line between said ends when the line iscarrying said body, and

e. fastening means mounted at the other end of the body for attaching aretriever line thereto.

2. The invention as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

a. said body is provided with a conical recess at one end thereof,adapted to receive an enlargement on the line.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

a. said sloping end surfaces of the gripper slides constitute cammingmeans which effect a retracting of the slides when the latter aresubjected to a force imposed by an enlargement on the fishing line.

4. The invention as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

a. said fastening means comprises a screw having a central bore adaptedto receive the retriever cable, and

b. said screw being threaded into said other end of the body at anoff-center location.

5. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein:

a. said guide slots open onto side peripheral surfaces of the body, and

b. said retractable slides obliquely projecting from the peripheral sidesurfaces of the body.

6. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein:

a. said passage comprises a longitudinal slot in a side wall of thebody,

b. at said one end of the body, the depth of the slot is substantiallyequal to the body radius, and at said other end of the body the depth ofthe slot is commensurate with the cross dimension of the body wherebythe center of gravity of the body can be disposed at one side of thefishing line which carries it. I

7. A fishing lure retriever, comprising in combination:

a. an elongate body of substantial weight,

b. said elongate body having a plurality of oblique guide slots at oneend,

0. retractable gripper slides mounted in the oblique guide slots, saidslides having gripper ends constituted of sloping end surfaces andundercuts adjoining the latter, I I

d. a longitudinal line clearance passageextending between the ends ofthe body and adapted to receive the fishing line, one end of saidclearance passage being disposed adjacent the gripper ends of saidslides to dispose the fishing line between said ends when the line iscarrying said body,

e. fastening means mounted at the other end of the body portion forattaching a retriever line thereto,

f. said body having clearance slots disposed in the walls of the guideslots, and

g. helical compression springs mounted in said clearance slots,

h. said gripper slides having limit pins which extend into the clearanceslots and engage ends of said compression springs thereby to bias theslides to extended positions.

8. A fishing lure retriever, comprising in combination:

a. an elongate body of substantial weight,

b. said elongate body having a plurality of oblique guide slots at oneend,

0. retractable gripper slides mounted in the oblique guide slots, saidslides having gripper ends constituted of sloping end surfaces andundercuts adjoining the latter,

d. a longitudinal line clearance passage extending between the ends ofthe body and adapted to receive the fishing line, one end of saidclearance passage being disposed adjacent the gripper ends of saidslides to dispose the fishing line between said ends when the line iscarrying said body,

e. fastening means mounted at the other end of the body portion toattaching a retriever line thereto,

f. said body having an eccentric longitudinal bore communicating withsaid passage and coextensive therewith,

g. a turnable member disposed within the bore and having a grooveextending the full length thereof, and

h. a longitudinal cut in the side wall of the body adapted for alignmentwith the groove of the turnable member, to enable the fishing line to beinserted in said groove.

9. The invention as set forth in claim 8, and further a. said manuallyoperable means comprises a pin exincludingl tending laterally from saidturnable member, and

a. manually operable means for tummg said tumable b said bod havin atransverse slot in its side wall member to bring the inserted fishlineto the axis of y the b d through which said pin extends.

10. The invention'as defined in claim 9, wherein:

1. A fishing lure retriever, comprising in combination: a. an elongatebody of substantial weight, b. said elongate body having a plurality ofelongate oblique guide slots at one end, c. retractable gripper slidesmounted in the oblique guide slots and adapted to slide longitudinallytherein, said slides having gripper ends constituted of sloping endsurfaces and having biasing means urging them to advanced positions, d.a longitudinal line clearance passage extending between the ends of thebody and adapted to receive the fishing line, one end of said clearancepassage being disposed adjacent the gripper ends of said slides todispose the fishing line between said ends when the line is carryingsaid body, and e. fastening means mounted at the other end of the bodyfor attaching a retriever line thereto.
 2. The invention as set forth inclaim 1, wherein: a. said body is provided with a conical recess at oneend thereof, adapted to receive an enlargement on the line.
 3. Theinvention as set forth in claim 1, wherein: a. said sloping end surfacesof the gripper slides constitute camming means which effect a retractingof the slides when the latter are subjected to a force imposed by anenlargement on the fishing line.
 4. The invention as set forth in claim1, wherein: a. said fastening means comprises a screw having a centralbore adapted to receive the retriever cable, and b. said screw beingthreaded into said other end of the body at an off-center location. 5.The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein: a. said guide slots openonto side peripheral surfaces of the body, and b. said retractableslides obliquely projecting from the peripheral side surfaces of thebody.
 6. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein: a. said passagecomprises a longitudinal slot in a side wall of the body, b. at said oneend of the body, the depth of the slot is substantially equal to thebody radius, and at said other end of the body the depth of the slot iscommensurate with the cross dimension of the body whereby the center ofgravity of the body can be disposed at one side of the fishing linewhich carries it.
 7. A fishing lure retriever, comprising incombination: a. an elongate body of substantial weight, b. said elongatebody having a plurality of oblique guide slots at one end, c.retractable gripper slides mounted in the oblique guide slots, saidslides having gripper ends constituted of sloping end surfaces andundercuts adjoining the latter, d. a longitudinal line clearance passageextending between the ends of the body and adapted to receive thefishing line, one end of said clearance passage being disposed adjacentthe gripper ends of said slides to dispose the fishing line between saidends when the line is carrying said body, e. fastening means mounted atthe other end of the body portion for attaching a retriever linethereto, f. said body having clearance slots disposed in the walls ofthe guide slots, and g. helical compression springs mounted in saidclearance slots, h. said gripper slides having limit pins which extendinto the clearance slots and engage ends of said compression springsthereby to bias the slides to extended positions.
 8. A fishing lureretriever, comprising in combination: a. an elongate body of substantialweight, b. said elongate body having a plurality of oblique guide slotsat one end, c. retractable gripper slides mounted in the oblique guideslots, said slides having gripper ends constituted of sloping endsurfaces and undercuts adjoining the latter, d. a longitudinal lineclearance passage extending between the ends of the body and adapted toreceive the fishing line, one end of said clearance passage beingdisposed adjacent the gripper ends of said slides to dispose the fishingline between said ends when the line is carrying said body, e. fasteningmeans mounted at the other end of the body portion to attaching aretriever line thereto, f. said body having an eccentric longitudinalbore communicating with said passage and coextensive therewith, g. aturnable member disposed within the bore and having a groove extendingthe full length thereof, and h. a longitudinal cut in the side wall ofthe body adapted for alignment with the groove of the turnable member,to enable the fishing line to be inserted in said groove.
 9. Theinvention as set forth in claim 8, and further including: a. manuallyoperable means for turning said turnable member to bring the insertedfishline to the axis of the body.
 10. The invention as defined in claim9, wherein: a. said manually operable means comprises a pin extendinglaterally from said turnable member, and b. said body having atransverse slot in its side wall through which said pin extends.